Loving Life and Living It

Tilly

Ok, so it has taken me a looooong time to get around to this – my brain is not firing like it used to (a newborn, toddler, threenager, and schoolboy will do that to you), and I’ll begin by apologising in advance for any strange inconsistencies, mistakes, weirdness, and general loopiness that is bound to pop up. Again, blame the baby brain.

So we are all here today to see how my ‘Tilly’ is made. First, there are couple of things that are important to know about Tilly’s story.
I had only read and made one Amigurumi pattern before Tilly was created. She is the product of some pretty random tinkerings – not expert crochet pattern making. So to anyone reading this who knows a fair bit about crochet patterns and such, please ignore anything that is not typical of crochet or Amigurumi or whatever. I make to attempt to look like some fancy professional, I’m just fuddy duddy ol’ me.
Also, I want to point out that I had been doing the double crochet stitch incorrectly for years. Oops, very embarrassing. But I’m over it. So, seeing as I didn’t actually realise this until after I had designed Tilly, you’ll have to use my weird made up stitch in order for the pattern to work. I’ll explain it, don’t worry, it’s not complicated, just not the proper stitch.

* My daft double crochet stitch (Lets call it ddc) is made by only pulling the yarn through one loop on the hook instead of both, and then pulling another loop through both loops on the hook to finish.
So you’ll insert hook into stitch, catch yarn, draw it through the stitch (you’ll have two loops on the hook now) yarn round hook, draw through ONE loop on hook, yarn round hook again and draw through both loops on hook.
Yep, that’s how I thought a dc was done. And that’s how Tilly was made so please bear with me!
**I start each body part by making a magic ring. If you have never made one before, check out Youtube for a tutorial.
***Some pieces are made up in joined rounds, others are continuous spiral rounds. The joined rounds require you to join the last st to the first stitch by slip stitching into the second chain that you began the round with. For continuous rounds you don’t join at the end: you simply work the first stitch of the next round into the first of the last round. Use your stitch marker to mark the beginning of a round.
****Chain 2 at the beginning of a round counts as a ddc/stitch.

The Head:
{work in continuous rounds}
RND 1- make a magic ring and work 6ddc. Pull ring tightly closed. [6ddc]
RND 2- (2ddc in next st, 1 ddc in next st) 3 times. [9ddc]
RND 3- 1 ddc in next 9 sts. [9ddc]
RND 4- (2ddc in next st, 1ddc in next 2sts] 3 times. [12ddc]
RND 5- (2ddc in next st, 1ddc in next 3sts) 3 times. [15ddc]
RND 6- (2ddc in next st, 1ddc in next 4sts) 3 times [18ddc]
RND 7- ddc in next 18sts. [18ddc]
RND 8- (ddc in next st, ddc next 2sts together) 6 times [12ddc] Start stuffing with some polyfill.
RND 9- (ddc next 2sts together) six times [6ddc]
RND 10- (ddc next 2sts together) 3 times and tie off.

The Body:
{work in continuous rounds}
RND 1- make magic circle and 6ddc into ring. Pull tight.
RND 2- (2ddc in next st) 6 times [12ddc]
RND 3&4- 1ddc in next 12sts [12ddc]
RND 5- (1ddc in next st, 2ddc in next st) 6 times. [18ddc]
RND 6- 1ddc in next 18 sts. [18ddc]
RND 7- (1ddc in next 2sts, 2ddc in next st) 6 times. [24ddc]
RND 8 to 12- 1ddc in next 24sts. [24ddc] Tie off leaving long tail for sewing. Stuff with polyfill.

The tail:
— Work 3ddc into a magic ring. Pull tight.
— 1ddc in each st in continuous rounds until tail measures approximately 8cm in length. Tie off leaving long tail of year for sewing.

The arms (make 2):
— Work 4ddc into magic ring. Pull tight.
— 1ddc in each st working in continuous rounds until approximately 3.5cm in length. Tie off leaving long tail of yarn for sewing.

The bottom:
— work first 2 rounds for ear, tie off leaving long tail for sewing.
And so basically, you just sew everything on! It’s pretty straight forward I think, and once everything is joined nicely don’t forget to thread the loose ends in.
Then, I make her a sweet little face using the embroidery thread. I am a pretty terrible hand sewer so there wasn’t much point showing you this step. I like the closed eyes look, but you could do anything you like really. I’ve been imagining a soft pink tip on her nose (using the wool needle and pink yarn) and even some teeny tiny itty bitty glasses to sit on her nose!
You can tie a sweet pink ribbon on her ear, or perhaps you would like to get super creative and make her a tiny hat. Maybe even a teeny scarf?

Either way, I sure hope this post makes enough sense so Tilly’s can be born all across the globe! Before you do get crackin’ though, please promise me that you’ll remember to give me pattern credit if you decide to show off your Tilly, particularly if selling. It’s just really nice :)

Eeeeek I can’t believe I am posting this now, I hope it’s not just a giant embarrassment! Please let me know if I need to change anything! And enjoy!